Its seems Australian sailors had already figured that the British built RS100 dinghy was hot property before the US Sailing World magazine announced the winners of its 25th annual Boat of the Year awards, the most anticipated awards in the sailboat-building industry.

Topping this year’s field of winners as the Boat of the Year was the RS100 by RS Sailing (Hants, England).

The Asia-Pacific importer is Performance Sailcraft.

CEO Chris Caldecoat says ‘they are selling like hot cakes in the US and UK. We have sold six here now and we have just got another container load in.

‘They were a very interesting development project because they were a collaborative project. Sailors said what they wanted to see in the boat and they were taken for the ride during the design.

‘Now I have sailed one you can actually see it has had a lot of input from the sailors. It has input from the professional people of the industry that know what they are talking about and everything all the way through to the punter who just wants to go out and have a blast. It sits in the middle. I hopped in the boat and it is a very easy to sail fun boat. Put the kite up and you get a really good blast out of it.

‘It beautifully comfortable to sail and it is small and light. The one thing the RS do is they have fun. Our phones have run hot and for this current climate, for people to be buying that type of boat without the fleets being really established, it´s really fantastic.

‘There are boats available for charter for those who want to go and sail in Europe next year.

‘They are ready to race from $12,500. You get a dolly and a complete boat with one rig and a set of class sails, ready to go. The options are rigged with an extra rig and foil covers, bag covers.'

The RS100 and five other new boats won awards from an independent panel of experts, who tested 17 nominees following the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Md., in October. Selections were based on extensive inspections and sea trials of all the boats. Sailing World’s January/February 2011 issue will feature all six winners.

'Other builders have tried to design the ultimate singlehanded dinghy with an asymmetric spinnaker, which is a challenge given the need for one sailor to handle a lot of sail-control systems,' said Sailing World editor and Boat of the Year director Dave Reed. 'But over two years of prototype development, the engineers at RS Sailing refined every little detail of this boat, and it shows. It’s an impressively technical 14-footer designed by and for avid performance sailors.

'I was wowed when I saw the boat for the first time,' said Boat of the Year judge and naval architect Greg Stewart. 'And when I sailed it, the boat had a very positive feel: a good stiff mast, tight rudder system. The whole package is very well executed, has great builder support, and because of this has excellent prospects for growth as a one-design class.'

Stewart’s sentiments were echoed by Chuck Allen, a professional sailmaker and Boat of the Year judge, who said, 'I was able to get into the RS100 and quickly figure out how the controls worked. All the sail-control systems are very clean and work without friction. The RS100 was the best boat we sailed this year — by a lot.'

Its plain this latest batch of RS100's will not last long, contact PSA now, to grab a boat now.